Disclaimer: Woo! Two chapters in two days! =] Haha. Go me. Thanks for the reviews! You guys are great! Oh yeah, and I don't own anything but the plot.

Please Don't Forget Me

Blaise disguised his surprise to see her standing behind him. He walked back into the room fully and sat down upon the couch before speaking, "Evening, Hermione."

"Why did you bring him here?" Hermione asked quietly. She did not sound angry, but instead afraid.

"He is my best mate," Blaise answered slowly watching her reaction to his words.

"He knows the password now," Hermione stated factually. "We need to change the password at once."

"We will be doing no such thing," Blaise shook his head sighing. "Draco will not try to get in here when he is not supposed to be."

Hermione's eyes were wide in her small face. She shook her head quickly from side to side, "We have to change the password. No one can have it!"

Blaise could see that this was leading quickly to a round of hysterics on Hermione's part. She was trying desperately to hold them in place. Blaise felt the stirrings of protectiveness in his being. Although he could not say why, he had the feeling that he wanted, no needed, to protect Hermione from the harshness of the world.

Blaise felt himself standing and grabbing Hermione's hands, wanting only to comfort her and get her to sit down. Her reaction was not at all what he expected.

In the blink of an eye Blaise found himself the victim of an Impedimenta curse. He found that he was looking up at the ceiling and unable to move. Hermione was backing away from him moving her head from side to side, as if looking for a way out.

She watched him with wary eyes and then she lifted the curse, "Please don't come at me again or I won't lift it next time."

Blaise stood up and stretched his back before sitting down again, "What in the bloody hell did you do that for?"

Hermione had backed herself up to the wall farthest away from him with her wand raised in a defensive way, "You were coming at me."

"I wanted you to sit down," Blaise tried to hold the anger back out of his voice. "Your hands were shaking and I wanted you to be more comfortable."

Hermione's eyes widened even more and she let her hand fall to her side. She watched him, still guarded. She did not move away from the wall, "You didn't want to hurt me?"

Even though it sounded like a statement, he could tell that it was a question she needed desperately for him to answer, "Of course not, Hermione."

She relaxed just slightly. She slid down the wall and sat Indian style watching him curiously, "You told Malfoy that he is not allowed to come in here whenever he wants. Why?"

"This is as much yours as it is mine," Blaise watched her watching him and felt a pang of sympathy for her. "Would you like to come sit on the couch. I promise not to touch you."

Hermione shook her head, "No, thank you."

Blaise shrugged and stood, walking to the kitchenette, "Would you like something to drink?"

Hermione shook her head once more, watching him move about the kitchen. Hermione was running through her head all of the events of the past ten minutes and she nearly laughed at her own foolishness. She could have made him very angry and that could result in him actually attacking her.

Thinking it was best to try to make amends she spoke up very quietly, "I'm sorry, Blaise."

He cocked his head to the side slightly, some of his hair falling into his eyes, "It's okay, Hermione. I'm just curious as to why you would feel threatened enough to curse me. Have I done something to make you feel as if I'm dangerous to you?"

"No," Hermione shook her head fighting back the memories of that night. "This really has nothing to do with you, or anyone else really. Something really bad happened to me over the summer and it has me on edge."

Blaise contemplated leaving it be, but he was beyond curious now. He needed to know, "What happened to you, Hermione?"

Hermione shook her head, trying to hold the memories at bay. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't want the suffocating pain.

Blaise watched her inner battle and still he pushed on, "What, Hermione?"

Hermione's eyes became unfocused and she began her story, "I was walking home from a friend's house. It was late, but it was not very far away. I'd walked before. I heard someone yelling at me. I didn't turn around, I just kept walking. Faster and faster. I didn't want to run and them chase me in earnest. That was stupid too, I should have ran and screamed, but I just kept my head down and walked. He was so drunk. When he caught me, we both tumbled to the ground. I couldn't move under all of his weight. I tried to hard to get away!"

Blaise watched as tears streamed down her face and her breathing was ragged. It was as if she were living it all over again. As horrid as he felt, Blaise had to know the rest of the story, "Then what?"

She looked up at Blaise, although he could tell she was not really seeing him, "He…he got up and grabbed my hair and drug me into an alley. He beat me and he beat me. He whipped me with a riding whip and he kicked me until I could barely draw a breath. Then he pulled my clothes off roughly. His breath…his breath was horrible. It made me gag, but I couldn't open my mouth, or he would cut my tongue out. He… he called me a whore and then he raped me. He raped me and then he told me I was a good fuck. He left me there. My parents found me the next morning."

Blaise watched Hermione rocking herself back and forth. She was taking deep breaths as if she were trying not to hyperventilate. He did not move at all. Everything in him was screaming that he needed to comfort and protect the broken witch before him, but he knew she would not accept his touch.

Finally he spoke, "Hermione, I'm so sorry. If I can do anything at all, please, do not hesitate to ask it of me. I know that nothing I can say will make you feel any better, but I truly wish things were different for you."

Hermione's eyes flashed to his, now angry, "I'm so dirty! I can't get clean!"

"It was not your fault," Blaise was trying to reason with her, to no avail.

"I'm filthy, tainted, dirty! No one will ever want me again," Hermione had stood up and had her back against the wall once more. She was shaking her head violently, her eyes rolling from side to side like those of a frightened horse.

Blaise watched in awe as she took a deep breath and sank to her knees. She let her upper body fall forward. Her head in her hands. He felt utterly helpless, "Hermione, you aren't dirty. No one will hold what happened against you."

She looked up at him finally really seeing him, "How would you know? You don't even care. You don't know me!"

"Cara, you siete la donna che piu bella no visto mai," Blaise spoke softly. "Even as broken as you are. You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. You didn't deserve what happened to you, and I wish I could make it right for you. Fidarmi di."

Hermione was listening to him clearly bewildered, "You call defiled beautiful? You call dirty and fragmented beautiful? You are either a liar or a fool, Blaise Zabini."

"Fidarmi di, trust me, Hermione," Blaise was watching her in a whole new light. He didn't understand why he was having these unexpected feelings towards her, but his instincts were very rarely wrong. He knew that he didn't need a girlfriend or anything of that capacity, but he felt a very strong pull towards her. He tried to ignore it, but his feelings were having none of that. "Let me prove it to you. Would you go on a date with me to Hogsmeade?"

Hermione's brows were furrowed, "Why?"

"To prove that I have only good intentions toward you," he spoke softly, watching carefully for her reaction. "We can go on Saturday, that way there are people everywhere. Would you feel more comfortable that way? In a crowd?"

Later when Hermione would run over this conversation in her head, she would wonder what had possessed her to answer yes to him.

She nodded her head in agreement, "Yes, I'll go with you."

Blaise smiled at her brightly, "Ringraziarla! Thank you. You won't regret it, I promise!"

Hermione watched Blaise in silence for another five minutes before she stood up and started up the stairs to her room, "I don't know why you are so concerned with me, but thank you for not laughing at my misfortune. Thank you for accepting me."

"Lunch on Saturday at noon," Blaise grinned at her. "Per favore non dimenticarmi."

"What does that mean?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Please don't forget me," Blaise answered just as quietly.